England's Newest Hitmakers

In April 1964, the Stones released their debut record in the UK, it would appear in a slightly different form in the US six weeks later. Recorded at the tiny Regent Sound studio in London, these would be their last recordings (aside from a few stray tracks) made in England until 1966's Between The Buttons. It's an amazing debut, and again is comprised almost entirely of covers. On the day of it's release in the UK, it sold 100,000 copies, and by early May had knocked With The Beatles off the top spot of the charts.

It opens with Bobby Troup's "Route 66," originally a hit for Nat King Cole, which they undoubtedly learned from Chuck Berry. Keith transposes Johnny Johnson's piano riff to the guitar, and it is one of their most searing live numbers of the early years. The song selection includes blues numbers they had been playing around London in the clubs, as well as their take on current US Soul and R&B hits. There's a version of Gene Allison's "You Can Make if you Try, which they probably learned from the Solomon Burke version, the b-side to "If You Need Me" which they would lay to wax months later at Chess Studios in Chicago. The single from the LP in the US, "Tell Me" was the first recorded Jagger-Richards composition, and went to #24 on the US Billboard charts. Keith plays a 12 string acoustic and sings harmony into the same microphone. It's also their first great pop record.

(to be continued)

Download:

"Route 66" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1961.
available on New Juke Box Hits






"I Just Want To Make Love To You" mp3
by Muddy Waters, 1954.
available on His Best 1947-55

The boys get "roasted" by Dino:





"Honest I Do" mp3
by Jimmy Reed, 1957.
available on Best of the Vee-Jay Years



"Mona" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1957.
available on I'm A Man: The Singles As & Bs 1955-59

I'm A Man - The Singles As & Bs 1955-59 [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED]


"Now I've Got A Witness" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
available on England's Newest Hitmakers



"I'm A King Bee" mp3
by Slim Harpo, 1957.
available on The Excello Singles Anthology

The Rolling Stones on the Mike Douglas Show:
Soundman out to lunch, but stay tuned for interview at the end.





"Carol" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1958.
available on The Great 28



"Tell Me" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
available on England's Newest Hitmakers





"Can I Get A Witness" mp3
by Marvin Gaye, 1963.
available on Gold



"You Can Make It If You Try" mp3
by Gene Allison, 1958.
available on You Can Make It If You Try

"You Can Make It If You Try" mp3
by Solomon Burke, 1963.
available on If You Need Me



"Walking The Dog" mp3
by Rufus Thomas, 1963.
available on Walking the Dog




part 1 : here

********************

Gather No Moss

Between June of 1963 and February of 1964 The Rolling Stones released three singles, one EP, and a couple other tracks on a compilation. All in the UK, and all before the release of their first LP. All but two those songs were covers. The trajectory of their career couldn't yet have been imagined. Firstly, they wanted to be the the best blues band in London (they were), and by the time they started recording, they wanted to share their love of American Blues, Soul, and R&B with a larger audience (which they did). The Stones weren't the only band in London doing this, but they were the best. They eventually wrote songs of their own (as urged by their manager Andrew Loog Oldham) but for the most part, their early records, up until 1966's Aftermath are heavily comprised of covers of black American music.

So, as the story goes, nearly fifty years ago, in late 1961 on the outskirts of London in Dartford, Mick and Keith, old boyhood friends reunite at a train station. Mick is carrying a copy of Chuck Berry's Rockin' at the Hops and The Best of Muddy Waters. BINGO! The alliance is born. in the coming months they start playing, and find Brian Jones, who is masquerading around town as a slide-guitar playing Elmo Lewis. Later they add Stu, Bill and his Amp, and Charlie.

It's no accident that their first single would be a Chuck Berry song on one side and Muddy Waters on the flip, two artists they would re-visit frequently, and soon enough meet at Chess Studios in Chicago. Their second single "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a song they got from Lennon and McCartney, when Oldham invited them to the studio. It was a something that McCartney considered a throwaway, and the Stones took it gladly. I've never been one to choose between the Beatles and the Stones, but if you were comparing the their versions of this particular song, which the Beatles eventually recorded in their next sessions, the Rolling Stones win this one hands down. The b-side, "Stoned" was their first original 'composition,' - basically a blues jam - and was banned in the U.S. for it's suggestive lyrics. Their third single, "Fortune Teller," was shelved and eventually appeared on a UK compilation. Next, an EP of more great American R&B, and a single of a Bo Diddelyized version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," backed by "Little by Little," a Stones original based on a Jimmy Reed riff - both recorded for the first LP which was soon coming. At that session, were Phil Spector and Gene Pitney, who contributed some maracas and piano respectively, and Spector copped a partial songwriting credit for "Little by Little."

(to be continued)

Download:



"Come On" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1961.
available on The Great 28



"I Want To Be Loved" mp3
by Muddy Waters, 1955.
available on Anthology: 1947-1972

***********





"I Wanna Be Your Man" mp3
by The Beatles, 1963.
available on With the Beatles (Mono)



"Stoned" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1963.
available on Singles Collection: The London Years

***********









"You Better Move On" mp3
by Arthur Alexander, 1961.
available on The Greatest






"Poison Ivy" mp3
by The Coasters, 1959.
available on Baby That Is Rock 'n' Roll



"Bye Bye Johnny" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1960.
available on The Great 28



"Money (That's What I Want)" mp3
by Barrett Stong, 1959.
available on Collection

***********





"Fortune Teller" mp3
by Benny Spellman, 1962.
available on Fortune Teller



"Poison Ivy" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1963.
available on More Hot Rocks: Big Hits & Fazed Cookies

***********







"Not Fade Away" mp3
by The Crickets, 1957.
available on Buddy Holly Gold

"Little by Little" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
available on Singles Collection: The London Years

***********



Bonus:

"Andrew's Blues" mp3
by the Rolling Stones (and others), 1964.
unreleased

"Mr. Spector and Mr. Pitney Came Too" mp3
by the Rolling Stones, 1964.
unreleased

An All American Trilogy... Boy

"Uncle Sam needs you, Boy
I'm a gonna cut your hair off
Take this rifle, Kid
Gimme that gui-tar
Yea-ah..."

Today, on the 4th of July, when we Americans do what we do to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence (eat meat, drink beer, and blow shit up), let us pause and reflect on the glory that is "The All American Boy."

In 1958, when Bobby Bare was about be inducted into the Army and his pal Bill Parsons was returning from his own call to duty, they teamed up with a forty year old drifter of Irish and Cherokee descent named Orville Lunsford and recorded a one-off demo talking blues called "The All American Boy" at Syd Nathan's King Studios in Cincinnati along with a Parsons original, "Rubber Dolly."

There are many versions of this story, and it's hard to tell what's what. But what we do know is that these two recordings were released as a single on the Fraternity label, and Bare, who had allegedly said that he didn't want his name on the record, got his wish. When the single came out it was credited to Bill Parsons on both sides. The songwriting credit for "The All American Boy went to Parsons and Lunsford, and unbeknownst to Bare who was then overseas, it raced up the charts to #2 a few months later.

Many thought the track to be about Elvis who had also been inducted into the Army, but it was more than likely an autobiographical joke that Bare improvised before he shipped off. Parsons, with a hit on his hands, was touring for Bare's record, including a spot in early 1959 on Buddy Holly's final tour, The Winter Dance Party, where Cricket Waylon Jennings heard Parsons rehearsing one day and asked if that was him on the record. "No, he's in the Army now." When, Bare was discharged, we went on to record a sequel "I'm Hanging Up My Rifle," and later, a third variation, "Brooklyn Bridge," making it a trilogy of sorts.

Mickey Newbury's "An American Trilogy" is an arrangement of two Civil War songs and a folk ballad. Elvis used it as a grand finale to finish his shows in his later years, and it is the staple of every fat Elvis Impersonator's repertoire. What's more American than that?

Happy Independence Day, Folks...


Download:

"All American Boy" mp3
by Bobby Bare, 1958.
available on Singles (1959-1969)

"I'm Hangin' Up My Rifle" mp3
by Bobby Bare, 1960.
available on All American Rock 'n' Roll: The Fraternity Story Vol 2

"Brooklyn Bridge" mp3
by Bobby Bare, 1963.
available on Detroit City


************


"All American Boy" mp3
by Grandpa Jones, 1959.
available on Country Music Hall of Fame

"All American Boy" mp3
by Bob Dylan and The Band, 1967.
available on The Genuine Basement Tapes


************

"An American Trilogy" mp3
by Mickey Newbury, 1971.
available on Frisco Mabel Joy

************

"Dixie" mp3
by Bob Dylan, 2003.
available on Masked & Anonymous

"Glory Hallelujah" mp3
by Furry Lewis with Lee Baker Jr, 1969.
available on Take Your Time

"All My Trials" mp3
by Dave Van Ronk, 1957.
available on The Mayor of MacDougal Street: Rarities 1957-69


*************

Radio Free Song Club

For the past year and a half, I've been hanging out with some of my friends about once a month to record a podcast called the Radio Free Song Club. I'm there as a photographer, but the others assembled are songwriters, musicians, sound engineers and visiting guests. It's hosted by Nick Hill (formerly of the Music Faucet on WFMU) and singer-songwriter Kate Jacobs. Dave Schramm is the bandleader, and is joined by a semi-rotating band known as The Radio Free All Stars, which includes David Mansfield, JD Foster, Jeremy Chatzky, Doug Wieselman, Andy Burton, Paul Moschella, Ted Reichman, Anton Fier and many others.

The concept of the show is that the club members-- which include (among others) Freedy Johnston, Jody Harris, Laura Cantrell, Peter Blegvad, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Peter Holsapple, Victoria Williams, Kate Jacobs, and Dave Schramm--contribute a newly written song each month. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't, but the results are always interesting. Some come as finished masters sent by email from across the sea or out on the road. Others come as demos which are then dubbed live by the all-stars in the studio. On one episode, the band played live with Victoria via Skype. Peter Holsapple has released a CD of new material comprised entirely of songs written for the show.

There have been numerous guests as well as live performances by the club members on each show, including Syd Straw, Beth Orton, Ronee Blakley, Bob Neuwirth, Mary Lee Kortes, Lianne Smith, Susan Cowsill, Glen Hansard, Alana Amram, Steve Wynn, Katell Keineg, and Michael Hurley.

Everyone involved, including Gary Arnold and Andy Taub, who have offered their studios as well as their services, have worked for free, giving their time and their talent to this labor of love. The shows are available for free and have produced some 150 masters of new songs thus far.

This is top-shelf entertainment, folks.

So, the Radio Free Song Club has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for incidental costs in producing this fine show.

Won't you please consider sending a donation? This project will only be funded if at least $5,555 is pledged by Thursday Jun 23, 11:58am EDT. We are most of the way there, and every little bit helps.

In the meantime, here's a few of the songs from the show, including Victoria Williams's version of Townes Van Zandt's "Buckskin Stallion," recorded for the last show, live at The Living Room in New York City, in tribute to her recently deceased horse, and for now, only available here.

Download:

"Do You Remember That?" mp3
by Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: No. 007 Double Issue



"Buckskin Stallion" mp3
by Victoria Williams, 2011.
from Radio Free Song Club: Sweet Sixteen Tons
(coming in August)

"Cote d'Azur" mp3
by Peter Blegvad, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: Third One Now



"Letters She Sent" mp3
by Laura Cantrell, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: If 9 Was 6



"Don't Call Me Pete" mp3
by Peter Holsapple, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: Third One Now



"A Little Bit of Something Wrong" mp3
by Freedy Johnston, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: Second Number

"Mister Control" mp3
by Jody Harris, 2010.
from Radio Free Song Club: First Issue

********

Visit the Radio Free Song Club on the web: HERE
on Facebook: HERE
and at Kickstarter: HERE

video by Tony Cenicola:



all photographs © Ted Barron, 2011.

Gil-Scott Heron

"The youth was gone, and he looked like an old man, freshness erased by some unknown blackboard cleaner. It was a new day for John Lee. There had always been a smile on his lips and a chuckle rolling over his vocal chords, ready to be exposed with only the slightest provocation. The daytime was gone from his eyes. All that remained was the night."

Gil-Scott Heron, from The Vulture, 1970.


by Drew Hubner

Gil-Scott Heron wrote "The Bottle" in the late 60's but he never stopped drinking. He never left Harlem, he smoked crack, and when I saw him last summer in Marcus Garvey Park, he had the gap-toothed gleeful grin of a bum. Whenever the band kicked in, he threw his head back and no one looked happier to be there. He looked like a six foot seven homeless guy leading the band. He also looked like a three year old kid. Most artists when they make it, they go live in LA or whatever. Gil-Scott Heron never did. He was not a rapper, though he did rap in the same way that Bob Dylan rapped. Dylan was not a folk singer either, he's a blues guy. He always was. Heron is jazz. That night in the park he told a story about the origins of jazz. He rapped. He was from the generation that used that word a little differently; Rap Brown comes to mind. It seemed incongruous that someone like Heron smoked crack, someone so intelligent, so aware. But he was eaten up by the same monster that ate Rap Brown. It also seemed incongruous when we heard that Brown shot a black sheriff in Alabama with a big ol' pistol.

Heron knew America. He wrote about America like no one else and the America that he lived with and lived in was not kind to black artists or to black men. Some can live in the suburbs, Heron never could. This is not even a black thing altogether; it's an artist thing. And it's not a value judgement either. Why does Dylan keep touring, when he can't even sing really? Why did Joe Strummer go to raves and hang out with wankers half his age, when the consumers of his music wanted the Clash to play "Rock the Casbah"? Heron's final album, I'm New Here from last year was amazing. It was just like those Johnny Cash records produced by Rick Rubin, spare genius in the raw, a voice in bare essence. In Harlem on 3rd Ave there's a bike shop that has that photograph of all the jazz guys taken on an afternoon in the late 50's, right there in the neighborhood. Everyone from Diz to Monk. Dozens of guys along with 10 lucky neighborhood kids. The thing that amazes you is that all those guys could be in the same place at the same time to pose, but they all lived right there in Harlem. That's the NYC Heron lived in, still. But the city passed him by. The city had changed, not altogether of course, but Heron had not left. That's what that album said. Listen to it. It is not even music, more of a testament, like the pictographs on canyon walls left by the Apaches to tell us what they saw of the world. Heron did rap but he was not a rapper, he was a jazz singer. RIP, brother.

Download:

"New York Is Killing Me" mp3
by Gil-Scott-Heron, 2010.
available on I'm New Here

"On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1)" mp3
by Gil-Scott-Heron, 2010.
available on I'm New Here

"On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 2)" mp3
by Gil-Scott-Heron, 2010.
available on I'm New Here

**********

The Other Side of Gil-Scott Heron
video and photographs by Monique de Latour
from The New Yorker

Seventy

Bob Dylan is seventy today. Here's seventy versions of songs that he's written. I was hard pressed to narrow it down to seventy, so that's saying something and I think it's enough. These are the songs that folks will still be interpreting in another seventy years.

Happy Birthday Bob.

*************

Download:

"Please Mrs. Henry" mp3
by Peter Laughner, 1972.
unreleased radio session

"Million Dollar Bash" mp3
by the Fairport Convention, 1969.
available on Unhalfbricking

"Baby Blue" mp3
by the Chocolate Watchband, 1968.
available on Inner Mystique/One Step Beyond

"Like A Rolling Stone" mp3
by the Soup Greens, 1965.
available on Pebbles, Vol. 1

"She Belongs To Me" mp3
by the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, 1966.
available on Volume 1





"I'll Keep It with Mine"mp3
by Betty Serveert, 1996.
available on I Shot Andy Warhol

"Stepchild"mp3
by Solomon Burke, 2002.
available on Don't Give Up on Me

"Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" mp3
by Jimi Hendrix, 1967.
available on BBC Sessions

"Positively 4th Street" mp3
by Lucinda Williams, 1991.
available on In Their Own Words Volume 1

"I Threw It All Away" mp3
by Yo La Tengo, 1987.
available on President Yo La Tengo / New Wave Hot Dogs





"Spanish Harlem Incident" mp3
by the Byrds, 1965.
available on Mr Tambourine Man

"Down Along The Cove" mp3
by Johnny Jenkins, 1970.
available on Ton-Ton Macoute

"If Not For You" mp3
by George Harrison, 1970.
acoustic demo

"I Believe In You" mp3
by Cat Power, 2008.
available on Jukebox





"Maggie's Farm" mp3
by Solomon Burke, 1965.
available on Platinum Collection

"It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" mp3
by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper & Stephen Stills, 1968.
available on Super Session

"Can't Leave Her Behind" mp3
by Stephen Malkmus & Lee Ranaldo, 2007.
available on I'm Not There

"Gates Of Eden" mp3
by Marc Carroll, 2003.
available on All Wrongs Reversed

"Up To Me" mp3
by Roger McGuinn, 1976
available on Cardiff Rose





"Mama, You Been On My Mind" mp3
by the Beatles, 1969.
unreleased outtake

"Man Gave Names To All The Animals" mp3
by Townes Van Zandt, 1994.
available on Roadsongs

"Love Minus Zero – No Limit" mp3
by Buck Owens & His Buckaroos, 1971.
available on Bridge Over Troubled Water

"You Ain't Going Nowhere" mp3
by the Byrds, 1968.
available on Sweetheart of the Rodeo

"On A Night Like This" mp3
by Los Lobos, 2003.
available on Masked & Anonymous

"Going, Going, Gone" mp3
by Son Volt, 2000.
available on A Retrospective 1995-2000 EP

"I Was Young When I Left Home" mp3
by Antony with Bryce Dessner, 2009.
available on Dark Was the Night

"Billy" mp3
by Gillian Welch, 2006.
available on Music From The Revelator

"Buckets of Rain" mp3
by Vic Chesnutt, 2003.
available on Crossing Jordan

"Dark Eyes" mp3
by Dirty Projectors, 2010.
Like A Version Radio Session





"Knockin' On Heavens Door" mp3
by Television, 1977.
available on The Blow Up

"Every Grain Of Sand" mp3
by Emmylou Harris, 1995.
unreleased demo

"Girl Of The North Country" mp3
by Howard Tate, 1972.
available on Howard Tate

"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" mp3
by Esther Phillips, 1969.
available on Best of Esther Phillips (1962-70)

"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" mp3
by Bobby Darin, 1972.
available on Aces Back to Back

"One Too Many Mornings" mp3
by Jerry Jeff Walker, 1977.
available on A Man Must Carry On

"Tomorrow Is A Long Time" mp3
by Nick Drake, 1968.
available on Family Tree

"Don't Think Twice It's Alright" mp3
by Waylon Jennings, 1964.
available on Phase One: The Early Years 1958-1964

"It Ain't Me Babe" mp3
by Johnny Cash & June Carter, 1967.
available on Carryin' On With Johnny Cash & June Carter





"Love Is Just a Four Letter Word" mp3
by Joan Baez, 1968.
available on Vanguard Sessions: Baez Sings Dylan

"Only a Hobo" mp3
by Hazel Dickens, 1985.
available on It's Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song

"Blowin' In The Wind" mp3
by O.V. Wright, 1970.
available on How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan

"Fur Slippers" mp3
by B.B. King, 1999.
available on Shake Rattle & Roll

"Percy's Song" mp3
by the Fairport Convention, 1969.
available on Unhalfbricking

"Ballad Of Hollis Brown" mp3
by Tony Joe White, 1968.
available on Swamp Music: the Complete Monument Recordings





"Changing Of The Guards" mp3
by Patti Smith, 2007.
available on Twelve

"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" mp3
by Bryan Ferry, 1973.
available on These Foolish Things

"Tell Me Mama" mp3
by Robyn Hitchcock, 2002.
available on Robyn Sings

"She's Your Lover Now" mp3
by Luxuria w/ Howard Devoto, 1988.
b-side of Redneck single.
out of print

"If You Gotta Go, Go Now" mp3
by Mae West, 1966.
available on Way Out West
out of print

"Baby, I'm In The Mood For You" mp3
by Dion, 1965.
available on Bronx Blues: The Columbia Recordings (1962 - 1965)

"Rita May" mp3
by Jerry Lee Lewis, 1979.
available on Jerry Lee Lewis Box Set

"Wallflower" mp3
by Buddy and Julie Miller,
available on Buddy & Julie Miller

"Halls Of Justice/Positively 4th Street/Like A Rolling Stone" mp3
by Terry Melcher, 1974.
available on Terry Melcher

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" mp3
by the Band, 1971.
available on Cahoots

"Goin' To Acapulco" mp3
by Jim James & Calexico, 2007.
available on I'm Not There

"Nothing Was Delivered" mp3
by the Byrds, 1968.
available on Sweetheart of the Rodeo

"Too Much of Nothing" mp3
by Albert Lee, 1969.
available on Thats All Right Mama





"Wanted Man" mp3
by Johnny Cash, 1969.
available on Essential Johnny Cash

"Seven Days" mp3
by Ron Wood, 1979.
available on Gimme Some Neck

"George Jackson" mp3
by JP Robinson, 1972.
available on Sanctified Soul

"Winterlude" mp3
by Joe Ely, 2005.
available on To: Kate a Benefit for Kate's Sake





"This Wheel's On Fire" mp3
by the Band, 1968.
available on Music From Big Pink

"Tears Of Rage" mp3
by Gene Clark, 1971.
available on Gene Clark (aka White Light)

"Most Of The Time" mp3
by Sophie Zelmani, 2003.
available on Masked & Anonymous

"Emotionally Yours" mp3
by the O'Jays, 2006.
available on Beautiful Ballads

"Paths of Victory" mp3
by Cat Power 2000.
available on The Covers Record

"City Of Gold" mp3
by the Dixie Hummingbirds, 2003.
available on Masked & Anonymous

"Just Like A Woman" mp3
by Nina Simone, 1971.
available on To Be Free- The Nina Simone Story

"Farewell Angelina" mp3
by Jeff Buckley, 1992
from WFMU's The Music Faucet
(courtesy: Nicholas Hill)

"I Shall Be Released" mp3
by the Flying Burrito Brothers, 1970.
available on Farther Along: Best Of The Flying Burrito Brothers

Shopping List

flour
toilet tissue (pink)
broccli 2 frozen
potatoes small onions (few)
a loaf of bread (Colonial)
manayaise (Miracle Whip)
lettuce
1 chicken (cut up)
2 pds thick sliced (Hunlas) bacon

and One Mint Julep




Download:

"One Mint Julep" mp3
by Ray Charles, 1961.
arranged by Quincy Jones
available on Genius + Soul = Jazz

*********

Ray Charles photo by Joe Adams